ATHENS, Ohio -- Gary S. Neiman, Ph.D., was elected in September to serve a three-year term as director on the 10-member board of directors for the Association of Schools of Allied Health Professions (ASAHP). As a board member, Neiman will vote on policy matters, serve as a liaison to one or more association committees and task forces, and serve as an important source of information to the membership of ASAHP and to outside interested parties.

"Being elected to the board of ASAHP is an honor and a responsibility," Neiman said. "The organization's work contributes widely to the direction and quality of education in allied health professions; it touches lives in an area of great importance to me, professionally and personally."

With headquarters in Washington, DC, ASAHP membership consists of 105 institutions of higher education in addition to professional organizations and several hundred individual members. The organization, which was chartered in 1967, works to promote collaboration, to influence health care policy, to support academic leadership, and to promote and strengthen research and scholarship and high quality, innovative education.

Neiman, whose academic career as an audiology and speech-language pathology educator spans 30 years, has been an ASHAP member for seven years. He has served as vice chairperson of the research committee and a member of the benchmarking task force. He also serves as president of the Organization for Health improvement in Appalachia, editorial consultant for the Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal, and on the publications committee of the Cleft Palate Foundation. He has been recognized in "Who's Who in America" (2003) and "Who's Who in Medicine and Healthcare" (2002-2003).

As dean of the College of Health and Human Services at Ohio University since 1999, Neiman oversees the operation of the college's six academic units, two auxiliary units, four experiential-learning units, and Kids on Campus, a community partnership for service to children and their families. Prior to joining Ohio University, Neiman was associate dean of the College of Fine and Professional Arts at Kent State University, in Ohio. He also was the co-director of the Akron Craniofacial Center at Children's Hospital Medical Center of Akron for 22 years.